[dev1021] Skill Points and EXP values are way too low.

[Zumi]

Skill Points and EXP values are way too low.

Ok so I really want to give FFXIV a good play through and another chance, so I decided to log in today and level my character some. Here is my experience.

I pulled 4 guild leve quests. 3 in Nanawa Mines and 1 in Nophica's Wells. All 4 guild levels were done under guardians favor for increased skill.

My character is a rank 28 Gladiator I started out with 23815 / 33000 Gladiator skill points and Physical level 31, 72940 / 160000 exp.

Upon completion of these 4 guild leves I was then at
25510 / 33000 Gladiator Skill Points, net gain 1695 / 5% of my current rank gained
75879 / 160000 Experience points, net gain 2939 / 1.8% of my total level gained
Completion time 1 hour, 30 min.

1695 skill points and 2939 exp for 1.5 hours worth of work is way too low. Its disheartening for many players who make it past level 20 to get so little accomplished when they try to log in do some guild leves and are left with a sense of frustration about getting so little accomplished. 1.5 hours is a long time and to only get 5% of my level done it just makes me not want to log in.

The exp curve seemed fine up to 20 but past that it jumps a lot almost to the point where it requires so much time and grind that it becomes unfun and a chore to level.

One of the biggest problems with FFXIV is how high the leveling curve is, if players feel like they aren't accomplishing anything they won't want to log in or play the game.

Suggestions:
First off I would lower the EXP needed to level 1-20 felt about right with the time it took to get each level. Levels 21+ need to be lower exp needed to level. On top of that each time you complete a guild leve quest you should be rewarded with 5% of the total skill points and exp you need at your current level, along with some equipment and gil. It is very common for other MMOs to reward players with Exp when they finish a quest. It is very reasonable to do about 20 quests per level. The rate I am seeing ingame at the moment is about 80 guild leves to level at level 28.

[Reika]

Sounds like you soloed them on one star.... dont do that

[Judge_Xero]

Sounds like you should be posting this in the New Player Help forum. You should post it as a questions about, how can I improve my SP gain during leves. Which leaves me to the point that the Dev tag isnt' required. Looking for a good Linkshell would be a great option too. Don't forget, there are also Behest you can do in between you Leves which is some great party play.

[yukikaze_yanagi]

^ these 2. Don't do leves alone, try do it in party with some leve link.
Trust me, exp/rp are far from low

[Arcell]

In one night doing R40 leves I went from R37-R39. But the main difference here is that I did them in a group with leve links and guardian's aspect. Last night I only did 1 camp's worth with my group and gained about half the SP I need to get to 44.

[Zumi]

Sounds like you should be posting this in the New Player Help forum. You should post it as a questions about, how can I improve my SP gain during leves. Which leaves me to the point that the Dev tag isnt' required. Looking for a good Linkshell would be a great option too. Don't forget, there are also Behest you can do in between you Leves which is some great party play.

First off I am not a new player, I have played FFXIV since the alpha. I been playing FFXI for 8 years, my FFXI linkshell had many server first kills Tiamat, Jorm, and Vrtra to name a few. We started with a linkshell made up of mostly FFXI players and some friends 39 people in total. They all quit playing except for like me who occasionally logs in. Most of them went back to FFXI or WoW. So when virtually all the people from a server first linkshell quit, yes there's a problem with the game.

This does need a dev tag because it needs to be read by a dev because its a problem with the game. Using the features in the game progression is just way too slow by today's MMO standards.

^ these 2. Don't do leves alone, try do it in party with some leve link.
Trust me, exp/rp are far from low

Sounds like you soloed them on one star.... dont do that

Sure maybe being in a party would result in faster kills and more exp just like in FFXI, not arguing with that. However there wasn't any people on the game to do these with. I am not talking about people in a linkshell since mine is empty but random people. I saw 0 people by the Nophica's Wells crystal and about 3 AFK people who were in the Nanawa Mines camp. There wasn't any other way to do these but on 1 star and even then they are pretty hard because a gladiator doesn't pull the highest damage by any means, and I am rank 28 and it says they are for rank 30. 2 star or above would result in me getting killed very fast, I still died a couple times on 1 star. Even on 1 star the imps can hit me for 80% of my HP with their special attack.

I am using the resources and people available in the game at the time I was playing to the best of my ability and my experience was not good which is why I am hope a dev reads this. There needs to be adjustments because people will have times they log on and see nobody in their level range doing these quests and have no choice but to solo them. SE wanted this game to be easier and more friendly to people trying to start out but it really isn't and they really need to lower the sp and exp curve.

[ESAR]

Zumi,

I've came up with an idea to fix your problem (since I'm having the same).

Don't try to blame it on us not being good players, we were lied to. This game was supposed to be fair for everyone, we weren't intended to have to team up with others to gain proper SP. Remember this is not FFXI...

Anyway the only way to distribute SP in a way that is fair in all ways is action based SP. Not in the way it was at release though.

Sure they could rebalance this really bad SP system till the cows come home but it's not going to do anywhere near the job an action based SP system will.

If you want to hear about it check this link:
http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...bution-dev1021

[RobotRivers]

Sounds like you soloed them on one star.... dont do that

First of all, if you have to say that then it means this system isn't doing very well, one of the major topics i've read about FFXIV is how solo friendly it is, if you can't get very far with the one star then i'd say it has failed that focus.

[Reika]

It is solo friendly, by way that you CAN solo past r12 unlike FFXI. That doesnt mean soloing is the best option. It is just better than sitting around in town waiting for a group.

I also see that she gained only 1695 sp from 4 R30 leves at r28. I That seems pretty exaggerated, because I get over 200sp per kill soloing nanawa or nophica leves with my R29 MRD, easily getting over 1000sp per leve. When I solo a R30 Leve at one star with my R37 Pugilist, however, I get around what she get from a single leve.

I of course only solo a leve when it is almost time for leve reset and it is already old from last reset.

[Viridiana]

Suggestions:
First off I would lower the EXP needed to level 1-20 felt about right with the time it took to get each level. Levels 21+ need to be lower exp needed to level. On top of that each time you complete a guild leve quest you should be rewarded with 5% of the total skill points and exp you need at your current level, along with some equipment and gil. It is very common for other MMOs to reward players with Exp when they finish a quest. It is very reasonable to do about 20 quests per level. The rate I am seeing ingame at the moment is about 80 guild leves to level at level 28.

(Underline mine)

So, 15 person party, each with 8 leves per 36 hours, each done at one star to finish quickly. . . that's 90 leves per reset, or 4.5 ranks and levels, not counting the SP you would get during the leves, or from behests.

You're right, that's a great idea.

Seriously, though, with proper parties and links it's already way too easy to get massive SP. I'm not saying there isn't something lacking in solo, but any suggestion put forward should take into account the already-easy method of partying.